What Makes People Successful?

Jan 4, 2013

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It turns out that success of a person is determined not only by intellect, but by the complexity of one’s nature, sexual orientation, and even height.

Will Power

Willpower is more important than intelligence. Even not very clever, but strong-willed people are more successful than those who are smart, but weak-willed. Ideally, the mind and character must be balanced. Napoleon compared the complex qualities of a good commander with a square, where the base and height are always equal: when speaking about the base, he referred to character, courage, boldness, determination, and the height could be understood as cleverness and intellectual qualities. If the character is stronger than the mind, the commander will be carried away and will go further than necessary. If the mind is stronger than the character, he will on the contrary lack courage to carry out his plan.

Happiness and Success

The analysis of 200 scientific studies, involving 275 thousand people, shows that happiness leads to success and success leads to happiness. The mechanism is very simple: in a happy state, the person feels better, has clearer thinking and is more appealing to the others. Thus, if you want to succeed, you need to learn to enjoy what you have now.

Temper and Success

People with a complex character (conflicting, stubborn, less ethical) earn more and have better credit histories than kind and accommodating people. The reason is that being kind and accommodating, people often seem to have a weak character.

Person’s Height and Success

Height is positively correlated with human intelligence.

What Kind of Women Are More Successful?

Slim women earn more than plump or overweight women. As for men, the correlation is the opposite: the larger the man is, the higher the income will be. Here we mean only a healthy natural weight. Extra weight is as bad for men as it is for women’s income.

How Does the Sexual Orientation Influence the Income?

Revenues of homosexual people are on average 12% lower than those of heterosexual men, and the revenues of lesbians are on average 15% higher than those of heterosexual women. These data were collected in the USA, Canada and the UK. Most likely, Western Europe has a similar tendency.

Man’s Earnings Depend on the Family Status

Married men earn more than unmarried ones (because their needs are more considerable).

Your Name May Affect Your Job

People with a euphonious and easily pronounceable names find jobs easier, and other people like them more. The women, who leave their maiden name after marriage, are perceived as more competent, ambitious and independent. This gives an advantage when applying for jobs, and ultimately leads to higher earnings.

Drinking Alcohol, Smoking and Success

Drinking people (within reasonable limits) get more than those who abstain from alcohol completely. The explanation is that alcohol helps to build social connections. At the same time, smokers earn less than non-smokers.

Beauty Makes People More Successful

Beautiful people earn more due to their attractive appearance and self-confidence. Unattractive appearance can partially be compensated for by neatness and absence of facial hair (for men) and body hair (for women). Shave and you will be rewarded.